Health and Fitness Professionals- A Case for Technology Helping Small Businesses!

Historically, independent health and fitness trainers (PTs) have had quite a battle when competing with big gyms and established PT firms. This is a result of limited capital and bandwidth (Time/Resources) necessary to build a brand and gain enough exposure to connect to consumers in a trusted way.

However, in today’s connected world, this no longer needs to be true. Many independent trainers are capable of offering a better service than the larger competition, and can leverage smart technology and consumer channels (i.e. Social Media, eCommerce) to reach a wide audience with a loud and powerful voice. This article describes the challenges and possible solutions for independent PTs and other small businesses(SMBs) to thrive in the modern economy.

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(Example: The boom in Food trucks can be directly attributed to technologies such as Twitter where the businesses require customers to become “Followers” in order to find food truck location, deals, and menu updates. Also, everyone loves to share information about a great meal!)

The Problem

With the wealth of technology available today, why have so few PTs been able to stand out and thrive? Business owners we have a tough choice: focus on quality of service or learn how to take advantage of technology. This is a complex problem, each will affect the other and a good business owner will never sacrifice the quality of their service . Therefore, many PTs offering highly sought after services are not able to expand.

Further, for those who are able to focus on innovation and growth, where should they begin? Social Media? Blogging? Expensive Website? Operations? Cloud Technology? Unfortunately the answer is “All of the above”. We have to work from the ground up to thrive in the modern economy; consumers are seeking seamless information and interaction through the entire commerce cycle. PTs require a solution that allows internal operations to be more efficient than ever before, plus the connection and marketing tools to have their voice reach today’s digital consumer (96% of all consumer research begins online).

The Solution

92% of the businesses in this country are “Small or <10 Employees”, making them a vital part of our economy. A solution is essential. Yes PTs, we need you to succeed, grow, and build jobs!

At Ocoos we believe focus should begin from the ground up, starting with internal operations and moving toward modern and effective marketing. We aim to be the 1 piece of software you need to make this possible. Ocoos’s powerful and simplified platform offers technology previously only available to fortune 500 companies. Allowing businesses to better connect with today’s consumer, build a modern web presence, and access the tools to run a smarter and more efficient business on the cloud. Now a modern PT can be be more efficient, while eliminating the costs and complexities of today’s fast moving world/economy. (Read: How to start a PT business in under $100 and beat the rest)

What does this all mean?

Upon joining Ocoos, PT’s are presented with a modern and powerful web presence (Can be built in one-click with our Facebook Page tool), which includes built-in online scheduling and ecommerce capabilities (Example). Your new website is integrated with a suite of simplified tools:The Integration allows business operations to function automatically, meaning your bookkeeping, client management, and scheduling is all done for you. Thus answering the two big questions in everyones mind: “How does it save me money? How does it make me money?”

Call to action

The time is now for independent PTs to innovate and catch up to consumers. This is just the beginning, those who adapt will thrive, and those who don’t will fail. Technology is maturing and helping close the gap that has been created between today’s digital consumer and small business. Platforms are allowing anyone to have a trusted and powerful web presence, and even a one-person business that can compete with the best. (Read about the benefits of a platform: Platforms vs. Web Development Toolkits).

The Outcome

Success is based on quality and not on resources, think of YouTube celebrities in the business world. Commerce will be seamless, efficient, and full of data. Consumers will benefit greatly in every aspect with more information and options. Independent trainers will be smarter, better, and drive growth as the “Go-to” people instead of large gyms.